Closure
by Fuuga Kumi
Summary: In the happy world of Destiny Islands, it seems like nothing bad can ever happen. Which may be why she herself is so optimistic. But when she looses someone close to her, things begin to change. One person is there to help her through it though. (S/T)


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Closure

Setting: Before Kingdom Hearts takes place, same year, just before.

Character it focuses on: Selphie *shock* a story that doesn't focus on the three main characters or the ones from Hollow Bastion OO how many stories are like that out there?

Part One (Selphie's P.O.V.) 

There are a lot of people on the islands, more than anyone would think possible. But my family, we live on that small island, over there. There's only about a thousand people living on that island. Small compared to the others. We all live there, Sora, Riku, Tidus, Wakka, Kairi, and myself. 

My aunts and uncles live there too. My cousin, Luanne, she use to baby-sit a lot of the kids when we were younger. 

Lunathere's a wonderful person for you. She's nine years my elder. Ah, but the fun we'd have. She was the one who introduced us to the tiny island where we play now, she was the one who helped us build the shack, the bridge, and so much more. 

Did I tell you she was my Godmother? Yea, she was. I wanted to be like her when I grew up. She was smart, funny, and kind. I don't know anyone on our island that didn't like her. 

She worked on the other islands too you know. As a police officer. She had many many friends. Oh! And she was engaged to this one guy, he loved her so much. At twenty-two she had it all. A wonderful job, prospects for a great relationship, loving family and friends. Who wouldn't like a life like that? 

Anyone noticed I said _was_ through all that? Yea… that's what I thought…

Part Two (third person P.O.V.)

Selphie spun the jump rope around. It twisted around Tidus's leg, knocking him to the ground. 

She stood over him, giggling. "Told ya I could bet you!" she bragged, and proceeded to perform a 'victory dance'. 

Tidus sat up, huffing as he did so. "Yea, you won, you beat me, I lost. Happy now?" then he mumbled, "I let you win."

Turning triumphant emerald eyes at him, she challenged; "Do you want to go another round?" 

He seemed to be mulling this over, deciding in his mind if he should decline or accept, when Selphie's mom came paddling over quickly.

"Selphie!" she called, tears streaming down her face (at which point Selphie dropped her jump rope).

The thirteen-year-old went running to the shore. "Momma?" she asked, "what's wrong?"

Her mother hugged her tightly, still crying all the while. "Your cousin, Oh God Selphie, your cousin she…" her voice broke and she started a new wave of sobbing.

Selphie's heart dropped. "What happened Momma? What cousin, what's wrong?"

"Luanne, she she's dead. She killed herself Selph." 

She felt the world spinning around her, felt the tears pricking her eyes and the hot lump rising in her throat. "No…"she whispered, "no. You're lying. She's not dead.. SHE'S NOT!" she tore off to the dock, climbed into her boat and sped away to the island as fast as she could.

She never heard Tidus yell at her to come back.

Part three (Selphie's P.O.V.)

No. No this wasn't happening. Luanne… she's not someone who would do this! This was some sort of sick joke. She wasn't dead. She was alive, she was in her house right now, relaxing and alive. 

Why… why are there so many cars at Luanne's house? Why is the ambulance there? She's not dead… there's no reason for the ambulance to be there. 

Sora's here, I can see his hair through the crowd, so is Riku, Kairi's probably right next to them then.

"Oh Selphie!" yea.. Kairi was right next to them. Now she has her arms around my neck in a bone breaking hug and I can feel her tears on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She sobbed.

I pushed her away, smiling. "What are you talking about? She's not gone." 

That only caused my friend to cry harder and hug me more. When was this joke going to be over.

A hand came down on my shoulder. Riku was looking at me, he was teary eyed too. "She's gone Selph. She really is gone." 

I stepped back, shaking my head. "No. You're wrong. She's not." 

__

But why are there police lines around her house if she isn't? Asked that annoying little voice in the back of my mind. 

"I'll prove to you she's still here!" 

I could hear them and others yell at me to stop, to not go, but I shoved past them and ran into her house. 

Part four (third person P.O.V.)

"Luanne!" Selphie cried, flinging the doors open. 

A police officer looked at her, a deep frown etching into his face. "Who authorized you?" 

But she wasn't listening. She was staring at the broken, bleeding body on the floor, still clutching the gun.

Selphie felt sick to her stomach as she took in the scene before her. So much blood, the stench of death was heavy in the air. She couldn't handle this.

She turned around, doubling over the porch railing, and vomited. 

She was left, pale, shaking, and crying. She felt herself falling and the only coherent thought that made it through her mind was: I don't want to pass out in my own puke…

Selphie woke up much later that day, when the sun was touching the sea in the distance, casting everything in a red light. 

Red, like the blood that was splattered against Luanne's wall, like the warm sticky fluid still oozing from the hole in her head, that covered her face and pooled around her as investigators prodded her. 

She felt her stomach lurch again at those thoughts. A soothing hand came down on her back, drawing slow circles.

"Where am I?" she asked, numbly aware of the mattress under her.

"You passed out, I brought you home." Deep blue eyes stared down at her. "You really scared your mom when you ran off like that. She was seriously freaking out." Tidus said, still running circles into her back to calm her.

Selphie opened her mouth to say something, anything, but only managed a choked sob. Tidus hugged her against him, it was the only thing he could think of to do. 

And she just kept asking one question over and over in between sobs, "Why?" 

The boy bit back his own tears at seeing the girl like this. "I don't know. None of us do Selph. The only person who knows is Luanne and she's not here to tell us." 

He held her, just letting her cry out all her anguish, until the sun died away and the silver moon took its place high in the sky. He held her until she fell asleep in his arms. And when that finally happened, he laid her down in her bed, tucked the blankets around her, and left her in a discomforted sleep.

Part five (3rd person)

When Selphie woke up, her initial thought was that it had all been a bad dream. All until she went downstairs to find her mom crying when she entered the living room, screaming "WHY DID SHE DO IT??" 

The young girl felt the last rays of hope drain out of her. She really was gone. The sun seemed to be mocking her family, shining brightly on the islands.

Tidus found her at the docks, just standing there, staring off into the horizon. Not moving, not blinking, barely breathing.

"Selphie?" he called to her quietly, afraid to scare her.

She turned to him, her large bluish green eyes brimming with tears that sparkled in the sun.

Tears looked out of place on the normally happy girl's face. She offered him a weak smile, but even that seemed forced and strained. 

He walked over, standing next to her. He was silently wishing for some wise words of wisdom that would make his friend feel better, but none came to his mind.

Her voice drifted to him, it was hard to tell if she was talking to him or herself. "It seems so stupid to do something like that. Why waist your life? We're all going to die eventually anyway. Why speed it up? There are so many things out there that Luanne won't be able to experience now. So many people she left here. And it's not fair." 

She turned to him, tears streaking down her face now. "It's not fair! What's going to happen to everyone who was close to her now? Why'd she leave us like that?" 

Tidus opened his mouth to say something, anything that would console this broken girl. But nothing came to him. So instead, he offered her the only truth he knew. "I don't know." 

Selphie had always been a person that, those few times when she was depressed, needed human touch. Now was no exception.

So it came as no surprise to the sandy haired boy when she practically collapsed in his arms, still sobbing loudly.

Tidus held her, slowly dropping to the wood in a sitting position. He held her and let her cry on him until she could cry no more.

She looked up at him, eyes red and puffy. "I don't mean to do this to you Tidus. You must think I'm such a baby breaking down like this." 

He actually managed a short laugh despite the situation. "Selphie. Someone very dear to you just died. I'd be worried about you if you _didn't _cry." 

She hung her head. "I feel so lost though. Nothing seems right anymore you know?" 

He nodded his head sympathetically. "Yea. I do. Why don't you come over for lunch Selph?"

Selphie accepted the offer with a quiet 'thank you.'

Part six (Selphie's P.O.V.)

I don't want to be here. I'd rather be in my room doing math homework. I'd rather be gutting the fish Daddy caught. I'd rather be anywhere but here. 

Momma called this 'the wake' I don't know why though. It's not like Luanne's going to ever wake up.

It's depressing, that's what it is. A bunch of the islanders have come in. they go to the casket and start crying. Then they hug Auntie and say how sorry they are. A few of them patted me on the head. I hate that. 

I want to go home. It hurts to cry anymore. It hurts to be here and see Auntie cry. I just want to go home. 

Oh God. My friend's are here. I can't handle this anymore. 

Riku isn't crying, he looks like he might have been, but he isn't now. He hugs me wordlessly. That's just Riku though. 

Wakka is here too. He wasn't crying when he came through the doors. He is now though. He was pretty close to Luanne though. 

I see Sora. He seems to be in a sort of daze almost. He just goes up to the alter, bows respectively, sits down… and now he's crying…

Kairi's in here. She knew Luanne the shortest out of all of us. But she seems to be crying the most. She's hugging me tightly and I can feel her tears. I can feel my own eyes misting up. they have to make Kairi leave because she's so torn up.

Tidus comes in last. He just smiles at me on his way up, bows at the alter, hugs Auntie, and comes to sit next to me. He's holding my hand now… I feel better though, knowing he's here.

The wake last all day. People I don't know are hugging me, saying how sorry they are. I want to know though: why are they sorry? They're not the ones who killed her.

The funeral's today. I don't think I was really paying attention because before I realized what was going on we were at the burial site. 

I think everyone on the Destiny Islands showed up for this. They're playing Amazing Grace on bagpipes.

I think my ears want to bleed.

Their folding up the Destiny Islands flag right now. I can hear someone shouting something.

I hear a gun and that seems to jolt me back to here and now…

Part Seven (3rd person)

The guns sounded in the traditional '21 sound off salute' Selphie blinked at the noise and one fleeting thought registered.

She killed herself with a gun.

As they shot off another round she found herself crying, sobbing hard and loud. Her mother was hugging her, her father on the other side. Everyone was crying. 

She could feel someone leading her away from the site. Someone drying her tears away, someone calming her.

Selphie looked up into a pair of sincere blue eyes. "Dus?" she questioned softly, feeling as though her body was separated from her mind. 

He nodded at her wordlessly. "You almost collapsed out there. I didn't think it would be good for you to stay. And besides, it was all over with." 

Tidus handed her a cup of juice, she drank it slowly, reveling in the cooling liquid against her parched throat. 

He sat down next to her. "This is a really stupid question right now, but are you OK?"

She blinked at him, eyes temporarily turning emerald green. "Not right now. No, I'm not. But I guess… I will be…"

It had been many weeks, possibly months, since that all happened. Selphie never fully returned to normal, and no one knew if she ever would. She clung to her friends and family, afraid that they would leave her. 

Today was a sunny day on the Destiny Islands. She sat on the dock of their Play Island, swinging her feet back and forth lazily. She really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.

Sora came up behind her, she knew it was him because his footsteps were so heavy.

She turned around smiling. "Ah Sora, the sky is so beautiful isn't it?" she was silently praying he'd go away.

He blinked at her, obviously not expecting this cheerful greeting. He smiled in reply, nodding his head vacantly. "Hey Selphie, I'm looking for a rope. You haven't seen one have you?"

She thought for a moment. "I think there's one up on the peer, you should check with Tidus though."

He nodded his thanks and was off again.

She was once again left with her thoughts.

Sora followed her advive, climbed the latter and ran the short distance to the peer. There was Tidus, chopping away at an invisible foe, like normal. Ah! And there was the rope. Sora snuck past the other boy, grabbed the rope and was about to run when he heard Tidus.

"Hey Sora! You feeling lucky today?" Tidus was grinning at him, momentarily pausing.

Sora blinked. "Not…. Particularly… was just up here for a rope." And he held the rope up to prove his point.

Tidus's demeanor seemed to deflate a bit then. "Oh." He sighed, looking down at the docks, or rather, who was sitting on the docks.

Sora grinned, he and Kairi had known for a while now that Tidus had a crush on Selphie. The brunette prodded his friend in the ribs. "You should just tell her what you think about her and get it over with."

Tidus's face turned bright red. "Yes. Let me tell you. I'm going to admit that I like her for more than a friend, chancing the relationship with one of my closest friends. What happens if she doesn't like me like that Sora? Then it's all awkward and … no… not gonna happen."

Sora shrugged, "suit yourself." And then left. 

"Selphie!!" called Kairi. She sat down next to her friend.

Selphie smiled at her, though her brows knitted together in confusion. "Kairi? I thought you guys were working on that raft?"

Kairi shrugged. "We were. Sora and Riku got into another fight about something and now they're trying to tear each other limb from limb. You know how boys are." 

They giggled about that for a bit. 

Selphie decided it was nice to just sit there and talk with Kairi. The girls didn't get a chance to talk often anymore. Not with Kairi trying to build a raft to get away from the islands. 

They just sat there, chattering aimlessly until they heard a clatter.

Tidus had somehow lost the grip on his stick and it went flying over the edge of the peer and onto the dock. They watched silently as a very red faced boy retrieved it, gave a nervous smile, and scrambled back up the latter. 

Selphie laughed a bit louder than she had intended to. Kairi was eyeing her with a suspicious smirk on her face.

The brunette stopped laughing immediately. "What?"

Her violet eyed friend smiled innocently. "You _know_ I think you like Tidus." 

Selphie could feel her face growing hot with embarrassment. "I.. I don't know what you're talking about." When caught: play dumb.

Kairi merely shrugged standing and moving away. She casually threw over her shoulder "and I think he likes you too."

It seemed like just as she said that Selphie could feel eyes watching her. She turned to Tidus's direction. 

His face became a guilty red and he continued taking swings at enemies that weren't there.

Selphie could feel something in the pit of her stomach fluttering. 

That was all two days ago. Well, almost two days ago. It was currently night of the second day. Selphie was walking home, enjoying the view of the setting sun.

"Hey." Tidus called lightly to her.

She smiled at him. "Hi."

The boy rubbed his arm uncomfortably, it was obvious he had something he wanted to say. "Are… are you mad at me or something?"

Selphie felt a knot of guilt in her chest. She _had_ been avoiding him today, trying to discern everything she had learned yesterday from Kairi. "No… I … I was just thinking." Well it wasn't a lie.

That seemed to help him a bit. He smiled lazily at her. "All right. You had me worried." 

He turned, to go back to his house, but Selphie felt the need to get something off _her _chest. "Tidus wait!"

He stopped where he was, back still turned to her. She bit her bottom lip nervously. "Dus… I know this is going to sound weird but… I think something's going to happen tonight… please be careful."

Tidus turned back around, smiling widely at her. "I always am Selph." 

And the two parted ways. 

Selphie was awoken that night by a loud crash of thunder. Peering out her window she saw a huge storm approaching.

It looked like it would wipe away everything that wasn't tied down. In her sleepy haze she managed to remember one thing: "Their raft!" 

Selphie jumped from her bed, clad in yellow pajamas, and ran down to the docks. 

Someone was already there. "Tidus!" she hollered above the screaming wind.

He turned to her, fright in his eyes. "We have to go back Selphie!"

She frowned. "Then why'd you come out here?" 

He smiled sheepishly at her. "I know you too well, I knew that if you saw what was going on you'd come and try to save that raft."

Blushing, she allowed Tidus to led her away. 

The wind picked up, bending back trees, ripping off roofs, and pushing them against a building.

They watched, horror stricken, as a huge black ball above the Papou Island started sucking everything into it.

This was like some bad dream for Selphie. She clung to Tidus for dear life. "Don't leave me!" she pleaded him.

He answered her by wrapping his arms firmly around her waist.

They were pulled into the black abyss together.

Nine years later…

Sunlight flooded into the bedroom. But she was already awake. She stood at the window, looking out at the beach.

Those who weren't around nine years ago, they had no clue what these islands, or the people, had been through. But they had all recovered.

Selphie smiled lightly at the bright sun. Her hand subconsciously resting on her swollen belly. Life was good, she decided in that instance. 

Tidus snored from their bed and she repressed a laugh. Yes, she loved that man dearly, but he was so weird. Such as mumbling about donuts in his sleep.

She decided it was time for him to get up. 

She waddled (for that is the only way to describe the stride of a seven month pregnant woman) over to the bed. Slowly, and with the utmost love, she peeled the blanket back. Smiling, she hooked her index finger around the waist line of his boxers, pulled back, and let it go.

He woke up with a started yelp and several curses. 

Tidus stared at her through sleep weary eyes. "You're lucky I love you woman, and that you're pregnant. Otherwise you'd be taking a swim in that ocean right now." 

Selphie laughed, hugging him tightly. "Aw. You wouldn't do that to me."

From somewhere by her neck he mumbled, "you're right."

It was a lazy day, the two of them simply lounging around. Near almost sunset Tidus asked her something, "So, I gave you my suggestions for names yesterday. What do you want to name the kid?"

She blinked up at him. "Well. If it's a boy, Mitsukai." 

Tidus wrinkled his nose. "That's cruel you know. He'll get teased in school." 

She simply waved him off. "They tease no matter what your name is."

He nodded, "true… go on." He spread his legs and pulled her against his chest, so they could both watch the sunset, his head resting on top of hers.

Selphie sighed, momentarily content. The sun was disappearing fast. "and if it's a girl." Just the top remained. "Luanne." 

The sun faded away, casting them all into night. 

~Owari~


End file.
